What I like about acquiring Brouwer is how it helps to set the lines.
Gaudreau - Monahan - Brouwer
Ferland - Backlund - Frolik
X - Bennett - Chiasson
Bouma - Stajan - X
Every line now has talent and a player that is good along the boards. Ferland needs to work on his net-front presence, but I have seen him improving that during last season.
This was a major weakness with the Flames' lineup last year. I would have loved to have kept Colborne as well and had him back with the Backlund-Frolik line, but it hasn't really hurt the team so much with his departure either. Every line should at least be a bit better on the cycle and along the boards, which will only help possession.
You still have guys like Pribyl, Jankowski and Hathaway that can all help with that and skill as well, since they are all fairly large and skilled, or in Hathaway's case, a huge PITA to play against.
I also noticed that the Flames did not stand up much for each other. I personally think that Hartley was set on being the NHL's most disciplined team (and they were the season before, and must have been fairly high last season as well). I think both Treliving and Burke would have probably liked to see a bit more 'dirt' in the game. I bet that Bollig won't seem so useless (people complained about him not doing his job), but I especially think you will see a much more aggressive Ferland out there this upcoming season. I saw a bunch of games where it really seemed like Ferland wanted to go after someone, but seemed like he was being reigned-in.
Brouwer - Ferland - Chiasson - Bouma - Hathaway - Bollig - Engelland - the guys returning I bet will seem like stronger contributors than they were last year (and you have to figure that although Bouma's career year was a huge aberration, he will at least rebound a bit), and Brouwer with Chiasson will only add to it.
Flames are a heck of a lot more 'rounded' of a team. I think they can still score really well off the rush and make high-skilled plays and one-touch passes, and I think now they can at least interrupt cycles, if not have a decent cycling ability, and should have guys screening goalies, banging in garbage goals and generally mucking it up in the opposition's crease. That is going to help quite a bit.
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